Amnesty says US risks making McVeigh a martyr

The high-profile execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh next month will send a counterproductive message to Americans and may even provoke violence, Amnesty International said today in its latest attack on capital punishment.

The lengthy report, titled United States of America: The Illusion of Control, said the US government risked making McVeigh a martyr for individuals who share his radical beliefs. It also argued that the death penalty itself may be inspiring murders instead of discouraging them.

Amnesty International opposes capital punishment in all cases, as a matter of principle.

McVeigh is scheduled to die on May 16 by lethal injection for the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building. The blast killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured more than 500.

The execution, to be held in an Indiana prison and broadcast on closed circuit television so survivors and victims’ families can bear witness, will be the first resulting from a federal trial in nearly four decades.

‘‘Society will simply have one more dead body on its hands and will have further clouded its conscience,’’ Amnesty said. ‘‘An execution carries with it the potential to create more grieving relatives, diminish respect for fundamental human rights and generate more violence.’’

McVeigh has dropped all legal appeals, leading to fears that he is attempting to ‘‘turn himself into a martyr figure,’’ Amnesty said.

The group further warned that ‘‘his execution could lead to retaliatory acts on anti-government violence by individuals who share his political beliefs.’’